Hi guys! If you don’t know, Nadine Brandes is one of my favorite authors! She’s one of the kindest and sweetest people you’ll ever meet, and her books are so amazing and inspirational. I love her YA Christian speculative fiction Out of Time series along with her latest YA historical fantasy standalone Fawkes. Now, she’s back with another YA historical fantasy standalone featuring the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov of Russia! I’m super excited for her latest novel, and she’s releasing the cover TODAY! Check it out below!

Are you ready for the cover?

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I’m going to give you a tiny history lesson as part of the reveal!

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Here’s a picture of Anastasia Romanov (courtesy of Wikipedia).

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Anastasia Romanov was the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last monarch of Russia. The Russian Empire has been ruled by the Romanovs/the Holstein-Gottorp-Romanovs for nearly two centuries.

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World War I broke out in 1914, and Russia as part of the Triple Entente joined the fight as it allied with Serbia against Austria-Hungary.

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Hardships and downturns soon crippled the Russian economy, and this led to bread riots breaking out in the streets.

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With the Bolsheviks, an anti-monarchial Marxist party led by Vladimir Lenin, rising to power, the February Revolution of 1917 led to the forced abdication of the throne by Tsar Nicholas II.

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The Russian Revolution was well underway, and the royal family was captured and later executed.

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Russia became a Communist nation, which would last until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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Many conspiracy theories later arose regarding the possible survival of some of the members of the Romanovs, especially Alexei and Anastasia.

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Did Anastasia live? Modern science and DNA testing proves that all family members were executed, but many people still like to believe otherwise.

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In Romanov, Nadine Brandes explores the possibility of Anastasia surviving in this YA historical fantasy standalone brimming with magic.

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Check out the beautiful cover below!

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It’s so gorgeous, isn’t it? Nadine’s books always have some of the most beautiful covers!

About the Book

The history books say I died.

They don’t know the half of it.

Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of survival are to either release the spell, and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s never dabbled in magic before, but it doesn’t frighten her as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . .

That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

Romanov will release from Thomas Nelson on May 7th, 2019! Pre-order it today!

I am an adventurer, fusing authentic faith with bold imagination. I never received my Hogwarts letter, but rest assured I’m no Muggle (and would have been in Ravenclaw House, thank you very much.) This Harry Potter super-nerd has been known to eat an entire package of Oreos (family-size) by herself, and watches Fiddler on the Roof at least once a year. I write about brave living, finding purpose, and other worlds soaked in imagination. My dystopian trilogy (The Out of Time Series) challenged me to pursue shalom, which is now my favorite word (followed closely by bumbershoot.) When I’m not taste-testing a new chai or editing fantasy novels, me and my knight-in-shining armor (nickname: “hubby”) are out pursuing adventures.

Hi guys! If you hadn’t known, Nadine Brandes is one of my favorite authors. EVER. I am a part of her street team (go Ninjas!) and her Out of Time trilogy has such a special place in my heart. I love and miss every single of one her characters so much. So when she announced that she was writing a YA historical fantasy based off the Gunpowder Plot, I was so excited! A few weeks ago, a kind person on Twitter granted one of my #bookishwish’s and gave me an ARC of Fawkes, which I loved and devoured. I am so happy to be sharing with you a short excerpt from the novel plus a snippet from the audiobook! Enjoy!

About the Book

Title: Fawkes

Author: Nadine Brandes

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: July 10, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Synopsis:Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.

Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.

But what if death finds him first?

Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.

The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.

The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.

No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.

Did Someone Say… Giveaway?

I once spent four days as a sea cook in the name of book research. I’m also the author of the award-winning The Out of Time Series and my inner fangirl perks up at the mention of soul-talk, Quidditch, bookstagram, and Oreos. When I’m not busy writing novels about bold living, I’m adventuring through Middle Earth or taste-testing a new chai. I and my Auror husband are building a Tiny House on wheels. Current mission: paint the world in shalom.

Hi guys! I have been really busy this past week, especially since I have been doing my best to catch up with everything after missing a few days last week for the DECA TN SCDC. I had such a great time there, but now it’s time for reality… that means more homework, studying, practicing, and blogging! Today I am a part of the blog tour of These Vengeful Souls by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas. I read These Vicious Masks (the first book in the series) last year, and I am going to review for y’all its sequel These Ruthless Deeds. I hope you enjoy!

Summary: England, 1883. On the run with the grieving Sebastian Braddock, Evelyn wants two things: to be reunited with her friends, and to get revenge on the evil Captain Goode. Not only has he misused his and Sebastian’s powers to rack up a terrible death toll, but he’s also completely destroyed any hope of Evelyn or her friends regaining the life they once knew.

Evelyn is determined to make Captain Goode pay for what he’s done, but is her revenge worth risking the lives of Sebastian and her friends? Or is it better to flee the city and focus on staying alive? And with the Captain spreading lies about Sebastian in an attempt to flush them out of hiding and turn the populace against them, does she even have a choice at all?

Synopsis: England, 1883. Still recovering from a devastating loss, Evelyn is determined to use her powers to save other gifted people from those who would harm them. But when her rescue of a young telekinetic girl goes terribly wrong, Evelyn finds herself indebted to a secret society devoted to recruiting and protecting people like Evelyn and her friends.

As she follows the Society’s orders, healing the sick and embarking on perilous recruitment missions, Evelyn sees her problems disappear. Her reputation is repaired, her friends are provided for, and her parents are newly wealthy. She reunites with the dashing Mr. Kent and recovers the reclusive Mr. Braddock (who has much less to brood over now that the Society can help him to control his dangerous power). But Evelyn can’t help fearing the Society is more sinister than it appears…

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher and Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This will not affect my review in any way.

I have been wanting to read These Ruthless Deeds for such a long time now, and I jumped at the opportunity to read it. Although it did not exactly live up to its predecessor since I had such high expectations after reading such an outstanding debut, I still really enjoyed it. Certainly, These Ruthless Deeds is the satisfying and attention-grabbing sequel to These Vicious Masks that will make you beg for more until you reach the last page. It was such a great continuation, introducing new plot twists and characters, that I had to read book three as soon as I put this book down!

These Ruthless Deeds had so much action and excitement seeping from its pages from the first one. There were so many plot twists and surprises that felt like they punched me in the gut. Seriously, that’s how much I hurt after I learned of these shocking revelations. My eyes became glued onto my Kindle as I literally flew through the pages, transporting me into the X-Men-esque Society of Aberrations. In addition, there was so much humor, snarkiness, sarcasm, and awkwardness that made me chuckle and smile throughout the entire book, even when things got tense. This novel was so entertaining yet heart-wrenching.

The best thing about both this book and this series is the characters. I loved the introduction of many new characters with unique and bizarre abilities, and I fell in love with people like Miss Chen and Emily. Before I go on, I have to say that my favorite character in the entire series is Mr. Kent. He is truly amazing, and he always has some sort of witty or sarcastic remark that makes me laugh. Plus, how he uses his power is so cunning and awesome — seriously, I wish we were friends, though he’d probably make me say things I wish I hadn’t said. This unique cast of characters will stick with you even after you have left this alternative London.

As expected with every sequel, this book fell a bit — just a bit — flat for me since I had such high expectations from These Vicious Masks. Although I found myself sucked into the plot, I didn’t feel as emotionally invested as I had wanted to. However, I do find These Ruthless Deeds a very satisfying sequel to its predecessor. I am so glad that I was able to continue it, and I hope that you’ll be able to pick up These Vicious Masks and These Ruthless Deeds sometime! 🙂

Author Bio:

Tarun and Kelly met in a freshman year writing class at NYU and started writing These Vicious Masks a few years later.

Tarun is a writer living in Los Angeles whose idea of paradise consists of kung-fu movies, David Bowie and chai tea. Since completing his first horrible screenplay in high school, he’s written everything from one-act plays and film criticism to humor pieces and strongly-worded emails. He’s also magnetized, crushed and burned the hard drive where that first screenplay can be found.

Kelly is a writer and actor living in NYC. YA is her absolute favorite thing on earth other than cupcakes and she has spent many hours crying over fictional deaths. She also started reading Harlequin romances at a possibly too early age (12?), and still loves a good paperback romance.